| Rebels growing stronger as crisis
drags on Abu Sayyaf guerillas move about with impunity, confident they cannot be
touched even as they take more captives and demand higher ransoms
JOLO -- The Abu Sayyaf rebels
are growing stronger, bolder and richer as the hostage crisis in the southern Philippine
island of Jolo drags into its fourth month, with the government having few options against
them.
In their camps in Patikul and
Talipao towns, just a short ride away from the military and police headquarters in the
capital town of Jolo, Abu Sayyaf guerillas move about with impunity, confident they cannot
be touched even as they take more captives and demand higher ransom payments.
Intelligence sources say the
Bandang district in Talipao town, where the Abu Sayyaf gunmen stashed most of their
captives, has been renamed ""Camp Susukan'' by the rebels in honour of the slain
father of Abu Sayyaf leader Mujib Susukan.
Despite calls for action,
Manila has ruled out use of force to rescue the hostages.
The Muslim group can largely
thank the European governments which have citizens among the hostages for the kid-glove
treatment they are enjoying.
""Pressure is really
heavy from foreign governments. That is why military operations are not being pursued at
this point in time,'' a source close to the negotiations said.
Even when the Abu Sayyaf began
seizing other hostages in Jolo, the government could not go after them for fear of
disrupting negotiations over the original hostages from Malaysia.
""We're still on a
status quo, on orders of the chief government negotiator Roberto Aventajado, to stay away
from the areas where there is the presence of Abu Sayyaf hostages,'' said provincial
police chief Superintendent Candido Casimiro.
And though negotiators insist
no ransoms are being paid, it is an open secret that the Abu Sayyaf has received huge
amounts of money for the six Malaysians, five Filipinos and two Germans they have freed
piecemeal in recent weeks.
It has been estimated that more
than US$5 million (S$8.6 million) has been paid to the kidnappers, and local residents
speak about known Abu Sayyaf members coming into town with bags of crisp, new
thousand-peso (S$39) bills.
The lure of sharing the loot
has boosted the Abu Sayyaf's ranks in Jolo from about 70 before April to more than 2,000
today, military sources say.
Provincial Governor Abdusakur
Tan said that even if all the foreign hostages were freed unharmed, he would be left to
deal with a larger and better armed Abu Sayyaf.
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